Namesakes
by EpicJellyfish7
Summary: It's just the beginning of colonial America and England realizes his new charge needs a name for the humans to call him by. If only he knew how hard it would be to pick one name for the eternally stubborn child. Familial USUK.


**A/N: (Obviously not a sequel) Himaruya is slightly ambiguous with how exactly he came up with some of these names, so I decided to make a few theories of my own. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Hetalia, Himaruya and Funimation do.**

* * *

"America, I'm back!" England called as he opened the door to the young child's home, only to receive no answer. He tried again and waited a few seconds before going into full on "New Parent" mode and jumping to the worst conclusions.

He'd only been gone… ten months. Ten whole months. Oh bloody hell. It was official, he was the worst older brother ever. He'd left the poor boy all alone for ten. Whole. Months. What if he was dead? Or someone kidnapped him? Was it the frog? The Spaniard?

England started pacing around the living room, slowly but surely wearing a trench into the floor. His mind was zipping through every gruesome possibility as to the fate of the young colony, each one worse than the other. He was so distracted by worrying about the blonde he didn't see him slowly shuffle into the room, blanket wrapped around his head protectively.

"Engwand," He started hesitantly, trying very hard to be brave in the face of his clearly distressed brother. England must know about it then, why else would he be so upset?

The Brit snapped around to face the colony and rushed forward to scoop him into a tight embrace. "America! You had me so worried! Where were you and why didn't you come when I called?" To be honest he could care less about it now. All that mattered was that he was safe and not dying in a ditch or starving in a brig.

America curled in on himself as much as he could, waiting for England to yell at him for being so careless but it didn't come. Maybe he wanted an explanation first? He frowned but pushed against England's chest to look up at him.

"Engwand, I'm sorry I didn't know what to do!" He cried, tears brimming in those massive cerulean eyes of his. England cocked his head, clearly confused. "I- they kept asking me and I didn't know how to answer but I didn't want to be rude 'cause you said that's not proper but I didn't know what to tell them so I ran away back home and what if they come find me?"

The poor child was full on bawling by the end of the rant and clung onto England's shirt for dear life, burying his head in his shoulder so he wouldn't have to see his caretaker's face. He was probably really upset with him, maybe he would leave for longer this time.

England sat down on the floor, America still in his arms and refusing to let go even as he tried pulling him off. Just what had happened to him while he'd been away? Then it all clicked and new rage blossomed. So it was the frog. The frog was after America. _His_ America that he'd won fair and square, damn it!

"Poppet, you have got to explain a bit more. Where did he go? Did he follow you?" If France had sent his crew after America… that was a different story entirely.

America shook his head fiercely, "No, they didn't come after me. At least I don't think so…" He trailed off and craned his neck to glance at the door as if a mob of people were standing there waiting for him.

"Well just let me know if that frog ever comes back, okay?" England said, slowly rocking back and forth in an effort to calm down the hyperactive child.

It was America's turn to look confused. "Mr. France? I haven't seen him at all since before you left."

England stopped rocking. "Well then who was after you? Was it Spain? I thought I told that bastard to stay out of the colonies…"

Despite the situation America managed a giggle at England's guess. "No big brother, no one else has been here. I was talking about the townspeople."

"Why were the townspeople after you?" He asked incredulously. It had been a good few hundred years since a mob had been after a personification, at least that he knew of. By now most of them knew how to blend in with the public and not draw too much attention to themselves.

America's tears returned and he crumpled against the older nation. "I- I was at the docks a few weeks ago because I like looking at the ships and I wanted to see if you were coming yet but you weren't and one of the people asked what my name was. You told me that no one's supposed to know I'm America but I didn't know what to tell them so I panicked and ran. Aren't you mad, big brother?"

England frowned, "Why on Earth would I be mad?"

"Because I ran away without telling them and you said that was rude and ungentlyman- un…gentylyman- un-"

"Ungentlemanly?" England offered, and America nodded, tears finally gone. He sighed, "Oh, America, you don't have to worry over such things yet."

The child immediately brightened. "Really? But what do I tell them next time? Unless you want me to tell them my name."

England chuckled and finally looked around the living room to see it rather… dirty. Normally America kept it well cleaned. Strange, "America have you been hiding this entire time?" He asked, knowing only America would justify such an act.

"Maybe…" England scoffed and stood again, setting the colony on the floor. "Come along, poppet, it's almost bed time. If you hurry I just might tell you a bed time story."

America sprinted back up stairs and England followed, glad to finally be able to spend time with the boy again.

* * *

"Story time!" America cried happily, bundling himself up in every blanket he owned and leaning heavily on England who tried to come up with a good tale and ended up drawing a blank at first. But he simply could not disappoint the lad after promising him a story so…

"Hey, Engwand? How did you get your name?" America asked, staring up at him with wide eyes, cowlick proudly defying gravity.

"My Nation name, or my human name?" England asked, reaching over to light a second candle.

"Where'd you get a name like Arthur?" The child clarified, snuggling close again.

England sighed tiredly and stared straight ahead, "Well it was a very long time ago but back when I was about your age there was this great man who led my people in defense against the evil Saxon king who was trying to take over…" England obviously had to simplify and shorten the history but it was worth it to see the look of awe on the colony's face. He just looked so… innocent. Which was why he skipped right over the nasty bits of war in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries. _(1)_

"I want a name like that!" America yelled gleefully, practically bouncing with excitement.

England turned to him, brows furrowed, "You want a name like Arthur?"

"Of course! He's a hero right? Well I'm a hero too and I want a name like his." To say England was happy was a vast understatement. America, little rebellious America, wanted to name himself after one of his kings? He could almost cry right now out of pride. Now he just had to pick a good king, after all the name would stick indefinitely.

"How about Edward? He was a great king in his day, beat back the Danes a few times. A good, strong name." America wrinkled his nose, not wanting to refuse it outright. _(2)_

"I don't know, I don't think I look like an Edward, do you?" No, he really didn't. Okay…

"What about Henry? There were several kings named Henry, some good, some bad but still a splendid name."

"Was Henry a hero like Arthur?" America asked challengingly. Well a certain Henry continuously killed his wives and created a new church simply to get divorced so he probably wouldn't fit the child's image of a "hero" very well. _(3)_

"Alright, fair enough. You don't have to be Henry." England took a good look at his colony, realizing that just any name would never do. No duplicates either. Ah, he found one. "What about an older one? He was such a big hero they called him 'King Alfred the Great' after his reign ended." _(4)_

America grinned, "What was he like?" He asked eagerly, half wanting to hear the story, half wanting to just hear England _tell_ the story.

"Actually his son was named Edward, the one I told you about earlier. He too fought against the Danes at a great disadvantage with a smaller army but outsmarted the Danish king and very nearly drove them out. Alas, he wanted peace not war and signed a treaty between us, ending the conflict…" England went on to glorify Alfred in the best light possible, never loosing America's interest once.

After he was done America yawned and promptly used England as a pillow. "I like Alfred, he seems like a hero. Just like Arthur. Can that be my human name now?" He titled his head back to look up at the Brit, smiling softly.

England patted his head, "Of course you can, poppet. Now get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow after all."

"Really? What are we gonna do?" America forgot completely about the previous fatigue at the prospect of a day filled with adventure.

England stood and carefully tucked the young colony in, blowing out the candles. "You'll just have to find out in the morning." He teased, and quietly left the room.

Alfred… It was a good name. A solid name. One that would last in the future. And most importantly it was English. England smiled to himself as he settled down for bed, promising that he would have to set aside more time for Am-_Alfred._ One of these days he'd miss too much and he'd be all grown up.

But for now, at least, there was this small home away from home, far away from politics and the real world. Here they could play kings all they wanted with no interruptions or condescension.

He smiled once more before blowing out the candle and settling in for the night.

**A/N: I swear I'm working on the sequel to RF (half a chapter done plus planning) but this idea just came to mind so I felt like feeding the plot bunny.**

**Footnotes: As usual, all from memory of AP European History and stuff**

**1: King Arthur, knights of the round table, Excalibur, pretty self-explanatory. Pretty sure there's a Disney movie about him.**

**2: King Edward the Elder (and others) I don't know much about him aside from spoken above, Google it.**

**3: Henry VIII had like, nine wives and replaced all but one, the last one, because they couldn't give him a kid. In order to divorce one he made a new church that would allow such things.**

**4: King Alfred the Great- again, know next to nothing about him other than he was like, pre- 1,000 BC times. Again, Google.**

**Danke for reading and I hope you enjoyed! (A review would be oh so appreciated)**


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